Suspect admits more child-sex visits to Asia, authorities say

A New Jersey actor and comedy writer who confessed last week to sexually abusing three young boys in Thailand in 2002 also molested children on two previous trips to the Southeast Asian nation, authorities said yesterday.

Wayne Nelson Corliss, whose arrest followed an international manhunt by Interpol, traveled to Thailand in 2000, 2001 and 2002 with the express intention of abusing boys, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Vartan said at a bail hearing for Corliss in federal court in Newark.

On one trip, Vartan said, the 58-year-old Union City man brought along a child-size "I Love New York" T-shirt. Authorities later found a photo of Corliss raping a boy who was wearing the shirt, the prosecutor said.

"There are those that possess child pornography to look at, and then there are those who produce and star in their own child pornography," Vartan said, calling Corliss a "real and immediate danger" to the community.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Shipp ordered that Corliss continue to be held without bail at the Hudson County Jail.

In a press briefing after the hearing, investigators said they're trying to determine whether Corliss abused children in New Jersey, where he frequently performed as Santa Claus and other characters at kids' parties, family-friendly corporate gatherings and fairs.

Horrific as the details of the case may be, Interpol agent Nick Moran said, Corliss is just one of thousands of men who travel to Southeast Asia each year to have sex with children, a problem that Moran contends the international community must better address.

"The exploitation that goes on in Southeast Asia by Western men is so bad that the money corrupts even the mothers," Moran said. "Mothers have been known to sell their own children."

Corliss confessed that during the 2002 trip, he paid an unidentified woman to let him have sex with three boys between the ages of 6 and 10, authorities have said. The videotaped trysts later were posted on the internet.

Last week, Interpol released a handful of sanitized photos, asking for the public's help in identifying the man in them. Among hundreds of leads that came in from around the world, three immediately captured investigators' interest. All three identified the man as Casey Wayne, Corliss' stage name.

When agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement searched Corliss' apartment late Wednesday, they found more than 1,000 images of child pornography on a single computer hard drive, authorities said.

They also found several pairs of boys' underwear, one of which Corliss admitted taking from a victim as a "souvenir," the prosecutor said.

Corliss is charged with production of child pornography, a count that carries up to 20 years in prison, with a minimum of 10 years behind bars. Authorities say additional charges could be filed as the investigation develops.

Shackled at the wrists and ankles, Corliss remained composed during yesterday's brief hearing.

Teri Paris, a woman who attended the hearing and who identified herself as a close friend of Corliss since the early 1970s, defended him, tears gathering in her eyes as she described the assistance and support Corliss offered her through several surgeries.

"He's a marvelous person," said Paris, who lives in upstate New York and who, like Corliss, works in the entertainment industry. "He's ill, and he needs help."

She said Corliss grew up in Maine, attended Colby College for a year and then moved to New York City, where he worked as a stand-up comedian and acted in off-Broadway shows. Records show Corliss moved to Union City about 15 years ago.